Kite: No, I would think if anything it’s doing the opposite. Some people were anxious to see what happened, and other people were saying, ‘Ah, this is the stupidest idea ever.’ĭo you think there’s any merit to the idea that new equipment helps extend longevity for a golf career? But back in the eighties, a 56-degree club was the most anybody ever used. I mean now, some guys have 64-degree wedges. That’s pretty cool you started the trend. Now, you look around, nearly every single golfer has a 60-degree wedge. And obviously (Bob) Vokey caught onto it and shortly thereafter I was with Titleist. So immediately guys started copying it and putting a 60-degree wedge in – well, not immediately, it took them a couple years to catch on.
So it was a good run based on that wedge. I didn’t finish out of the top-10 for years. So I put that in the bag in June of 1980, and in 1981 I was the leading money winner. I didn’t know anything about clubs, except I knew what I needed in terms of loft and length to get the ball to go the distance that I wanted it to go. I put it in the bag and I instantly became a better player. I don’t want to say it revolutionized, but it certainly changed the game. Kite: Well, I was the first one to go to the 60-degree wedge way back in 1980. I was wondering if you could give me your side of that story? Vokey just told me the story of the K-grind and how that came about.
#TOM KITE PROFESSIONAL#
Kite discussed how he was the first professional to use a 60-degree wedge, why modern technology hurts longevity in golf careers, his take on the USGA and R&A’s recent distance report, rolling back the golf ball, and he explains why Champions Tour players tend to use older technology (in their irons) rather than new equipment.
#TOM KITE FULL#
Instead, it turned into a full question-and-answer session about a wide range of equipment topics.
The conversation didn’t stop at the K-grind story, however. Of course, I had to ask Kite himself about the backstory. Eventually, the K-grind became a staple in Vokey’s retail lines of wedges, and it remains in the SM8 lineup today. Also, Adam Scott won The 2013 Masters with a K-grind lob wedge, which certainly didn’t hurt the intrigue.
#TOM KITE SERIES#
Later on, Jason Dufner was getting short game advice from Kite when Dufner took a liking to the K-grind.ĭue to the interest in the K-grind with a wider sole, Titleist began offering the option in its TVD series of wedges. So Vokey ground a Titleist wedge made special for Kite that Vokey referred to in-house as the K-grind.
While sitting in on a wedge testing session between Kite and Master Craftsman Bob Vokey, I learned that the popular “K-grind” option is actually named after Kite himself.Īs Vokey told on Wednesday, the original K-grind was developed in the early 2000s because Kite wanted a wider sole option that replicated an older Hogan wedge that he liked. On the range at the Cologuard event, Titleist was launching its new Vokey SM8 wedges, allowing players to try out the new designs and get their proper fit. Open champion and World Golf Hall-of-Famer is below, but first, a brief aside. The full Q&A with the 19-time PGA Tour winner, 1992 U.S. Ahead of the Champions Tour’s 2020 Cologuard Classic at Omni Tuscon National, caught up with the legend Tom Kite to speak about a number of interesting equipment topics.
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